My Christmas Hero
by BlackBeauty613
Summary: For five years, Gabriella has had a negative attitude toward Christmas. No one knows why, but Troy's determined to find out this year. Will he finally break down her walls? Troyella oneshot.


**Hey! Merry Christmas! Here's my X-Mas oneshot for this year. Last year I did "My Christmas Wish", if you've read it. Anyways, this one's on the long side (35 pages on Word) so I suggest that you don't read it when you're short on time. Enjoy :)**

* * *

He drove down the icy neighborhood road of Albuquerque looking through the white speckled glass silently, not even having the radio on. There would be plenty of noise at the party. The black, shiny road ahead was only dimly lit for him to see, his headlights shining the way. There were brightly colored houses surrounding him on both sides of his car. This didn't surprise him. Almost every house in town was strung up with colorful, almost blinding tiny lights and decorations covering every tiny inch of land. Snowmen stood in the lawns of many homes, showing that little children must have lived there and left their mark. The curtains from inside the house were pulled to the side, letting the room behind it shine brightly from the Christmas tree that was facing outward, decorated with small, cheerful ornaments. Some of them even had presents on the ground already. Yes, the spirit of the Christmas season was showing everywhere...

Except for one house.

The very last house at the end of the street was not lit with a constant array of rainbow lights that radiated off of the house and light the streets for the passengers riding on them. There were no cheerful snowmen or sloppy snow forts littering the front lawn for everyone to gaze at and smile "Aww!" There wasn't even a sign that read "Merry Christmas" like all of its neighbors. No green, red, gold, or silver could be seen. Nothing. Just the ordinary, everyday items like a worn-out doormat and broken stepping-stones.

This didn't surprise him either.

The house was the same way every year. The resident occupying the home decorated for other holidays like Halloween or Easter, but that was pretty much it. This was probably why this was the only address that was skipped when children went around caroling. They didn't want to even imagine what would happen if they showed up at the doorstep and rang the doorbell. The door would probably get slammed in their face.

_Buzz._ The phone vibrated inside the man's jean pocket, snapping him out of his thoughts and he realized that he had stopped to gaze at the house that had seemed ordinary, just showing its hate for the holiday. He sighed and flipped it open, bringing it up to his ear.

He didn't even get a chance to say hello before the joyous shout filled his head. "Troy!"

23 year old Troy Bolton sighed again and, with a slight smile, calmly replied "Hey Chad."

"Dude, where are you?! You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago! We were beginning to think you got into some kind of accident or something!" You could easily hear the music in the background.

Troy almost laughed at his friend's masked concern, but held it back knowing that Chad would probably retort "What are you laughing at?! It's not funny!" He usually hid his emotions well, but when someone got him to knock down his walls and then _laugh_ at him, he replaced his emotion with homicidal rage.

"Chad, stop worrying," Troy reassured him "I'm fine, just spaced out for a second at the end of the road."

"Her house _again_?" Chad nearly groaned, knowing just whose house his friend was talking about.

Troy shrugged, answering "Hey, it's always an attraction this time of year, even though it doesn't want to be."

"Well then if you're really that in love with it, do it – and me – a favor and leave it the hell alone!"

Troy rolled his eyes at the sarcasm that sprinkled through Chad's voice "Like you've never wanted to stop and just look at it. I mean seriously. Haven't you ever just _once_ wondered why she never decorates for Christmas anymore?"

Chad sighed in slight frustration "Yeah, yeah. I'll be sure to add it to my list of wonders that no one gives a crap about. Seriously! Get to the party!"

Troy finally realized that his distractions wouldn't have an effect anymore on his stubborn best friend, so he just mumbled "I'll be there in 2 minutes."

"We'll be here!" Chad cheerily exclaimed. Leave it to him to forget his irritation in the matter of half a second.

Troy hung up the phone before he allowed himself the chance to argue further. He gave the house one last glance before pressing his foot to the gas peddle and continuing to his voyage to one of the biggest Christmas parties in town.

Chad's annual holiday bash was a tradition of his since he was just a junior in high school. Every year, he invited 35 of his closest friends and family to his house for a five hour party that included tons of booming music (which the neighbors didn't really appreciate), mounds of food, and a large selection of people to chat and laugh with. Most of the guests were his high school classmates who had carefully kept in touch over the years except for Troy, who had been in his life since he was four years old, in pre-school. They had gone to different colleges at the end of high school, but that didn't stop them from meeting up when they got out and moving into houses that were only 20 minutes away from each other. It was a lifelong bond that no one could come between.

About two minutes later, Troy pulled up to the house that looked more like a nightclub than someone's home. He easily found the parking spot that was most likely reserved for him and killed the engine, gazing up at the party. It was most likely crazy as hell in there, but he would be used to it if that were the case. After a few minutes, it would seem just like any normal high school Christmas party. The only difference was that there weren't random couples hooking up upstairs and people weren't getting quite as drunk. All in all, it would be in way more control now that everyone was now much more mature than they were when they were 18.

"DUDE!!!"

Well, almost everyone.

Troy looked up to find Chad running toward him with open arms, beaming like a flashlight. Troy rolled his eyes and got out of the car, stepping up to his best friend to give him a friendly hug.

"Hey Chad. Party looks great." Troy started the conversation with a smile.

Chad nodded jubilantly "Oh yeah, it's crazy in there! It's just like being back in high school!"

"Ah, wildcat reunion."

"You got that right!"

After flashing a quick grin, Troy asked "Where's Taylor and the girls?"

Chad's large smile quickly wiped off his face as he cocked his head to the side, asking "You didn't see them on your way up?"

"Was I supposed to?"

Chad shrugged "I guess. They're over at Gabriella's trying to convince her to come."

Ah, that was why there had been two extra cars in her driveway. Taylor McKessie-Danforth, Chad's wife of two years and soon-to-be mother of his first child, was always the person to go to if you ever had a problem with self-esteem or an issue that was extremely confusing or hard to deal with. She was like the mother of the gang back in high school, just like she would be the amazing mother of her and Chad's child.

Sharpay Evans, soon to be Sharpay Baylor, considering the fact that she was engaged to another high school friend of Troy and Chad's, Zeke. Unlike Taylor's chill and laid back attitude, Sharpay, her best friend, was the complete opposite. When she walked into a crowded room and you were on the other side, hidden behind the throng of people, you would know she had arrived. She always brightened a room with her bright confidence and flamboyant attitude that would occasionally get her into some serious trouble. She was pretty much defined as the gang's main energy source.

Troy just nodded as he returned back to Earth from his outside thoughts. "I think I saw their cars in the driveway, now that I think about it."

Chad lightly rolled his eyes "Figures. She's a tough nut to crack. Don't know why they're still even trying."

Troy just shrugged his shoulders and replied casually "I don't know dude, when you get those two together they can get pretty convincing. It probably wouldn't take them long."

"I know that, but Gabriella's stubbornness pretty much measures up to theirs."

"So you're saying it's a tie?"

Chad sighed at his response, obviously getting bored with the conversation. He never did like these extensive talks about the girl that owned the anti-Christmas house. "Sure, let's go with that."

Troy cut off the remarks that he had flowing into his brain, seeing it plainly on his friend's face that he was boring him. He couldn't afford to get carried away with his curiosity again, like he had been doing for the last five years every single time he looked at the house on the end of the street, even if it wasn't the Christmas season. He always tried to be careful when he and Chad were sitting at the bar, chatting and laughing about random things and watched his tongue to make sure that nothing about _her_ slipped out. That always ruined the mood.

His face lit up when he finally found a distraction. "Hey, let's get in there and get this party started! Unless you wanna spend the rest of the night out here freezing our asses off?"

Chad grinned, his annoyed attitude falling from his mind like the snow from the sky. "I though you'd never ask."

--

"No! For the last time, I'm not going!"

Taylor and Sharpay groaned for the umpteenth time that night, giving each other an almost hopeless look.

"Gabby, just hear us out for a second," Sharpay tried again "people that you haven't seen in _years_ are gonna be there-"

"Who have probably forgotten me."

She sighed but decided to continue "There's gonna be plenty of music. You know you love music."

Taylor and Sharpay heard the loud snap of Gabriella's teeth clenching together. "Christmas music..." The word sounded strangled coming from her mouth.

"The food will be amazing!" Taylor reassured, trying to act as though nothing was wrong. "You know that Chad is a pretty good cook now, thanks to Zeke." Sharpay smiled softly at the sound of her fiancé's name.

Gabriella spoke sarcastically through her teeth "Probably baked up little gingerbread men and star-shaped cookies."

Sharpay took over and gave a faulty smile, pitifully replying "The drinks should be nice..."

"Egg Nog gives me nightmares." Gabriella persisted stubbornly. Sharpay just threw her head back in defeat. Even when she gave an attempt that was not at all necessary nor helpful, her friend still had a sarcastic comment to one-up it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Taylor staring at Gabriella with a disbelieving look and whispering tearfully "Gabriella, why do you hate Christmas so much?"

Gabriella turned to glare at her and simply snapped "I just do, okay?! It's nothing you need to butt into!"

Taylor sighed "Gabby, we're your best friends. Therefore, it's our job to make sure that you're happy at all times, including Christmas."

"_Especially_ Christmas." Sharpay threw in. Gabriella just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again, staring out the window at the snow falling graciously to the ground. She just glared harder at the peaceful sight.

Taylor sat down beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, continuing "Gabriella, please come to the party with us. Even if you do dislike Christmas-"

"Dislike my ass! I _hate_ it!" Gabriella harshly corrected her.

"I don't believe that." Taylor told her "I think there's still a little bit of the old Gabriella from high school who would wait for Christmas again on the 26th, the second it struck midnight on the 25th. I think I can still see the girl who used to help her mom decorate the tree with lights and homemade ornaments while singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs. The Gabriella who used to help her dad bake cookies and decorating them with sprinkles and icing while laughing and licking the leftovers out of the can. The one who would just run outside at random times and drop into the huge snow piles and make snow angels. I think traces of her are still in there."

Sharpay said "Yeah Gabs. What happened to her?"

"She died." Gabriella evenly answered, not having seemed phased by Taylor's touching words.

"Gabriella-"

She finally groaned and got to her feet, escaping Taylor's hold. "Okay, if I go, will you guys finally stop trying to make me at least cooperate with Christmas and pound it into my head already?!"

Sharpay beamed. They finally cracked her. "You know we'll never stop trying, but we'll at least attempt to tonight. So what do you say? Are you going with us?"

Gabriella sighed heavily and closed her eyes, clenching her fists and already regretting the words that she hadn't even spoken yet. "Fine."

Taylor and Sharpay both squealed and jumped to their feet, engulfing Gabriella in a tight hug, Sharpay exclaiming "Oh, this is going to be great! You won't regret this Gabby!"

"Don't hold your breath..."

--

Gabriella dragged herself into the house behind Taylor and Sharpay, keeping her eyes on the floor and her arms locked across her chest. She inhaled carefully. Cinnamon and peppermint. She cringed, trying to hold down her dinner.

"So?" Sharpay excitedly turned to her after taking in the beautiful atmosphere herself. "What do you think?"

"I think I'm gonna puke."

Taylor shrugged and said to Sharpay quietly "At least she's not leaving."

"I wouldn't count on that." Gabriella retorted, showing that she had heard her and turned to jump right back out the door. Her two friends caught her by the arms.

"Oh no you don't!" Taylor yelled over the blazing music "You're staying for at least two and a half hours!"

Gabriella moaned, staring out the door at her car and wishing that she could be in it, driving back home.

Sharpay suggested "Go find something to do. I think everyone's here, so try to find someone to talk to."

"Like who?!" Gabriella fought back loudly, slightly struggling in their hold. "I haven't talked to any of these people in years!"

Taylor stated "Well, here's your chance." She pushed Gabriella towards the party and encouraged her to step into it. "Go socialize!"

Gabriella's eyes scanned the room, having them fall upon many of her high school classmates who were either dancing, chatting, laughing, or just having a good time. There were Christmas lights strung up across the ceiling, on the stair banister, and around the entertainment center. Little festive decorations sat everywhere, most of them smiling and few of them with serious looks on their faces but that was pretty much only the angels or the Jesus figures. The wide, 6 foot Christmas tree stood proudly in the center edge of the room decorated to the trunk. Beads, lights, and ornaments of all kinds hung from it happily. Porcelain, glass, plastic, and homemade ornaments of all kinds even hung elsewhere. It was beautiful. She grimaced.

"Taylor, where are the drinks?" She asked flatly without turning to them.

"Gabby-"

Gabriella lied "I just need to get motivated if I'm going to be socializing. A little harmless drink won't hurt, will it?"

"No..."

Gabriella flashed a wide, sarcastic grin. "Thought not."

Taylor sighed and rolled her eyes. "Over by the TV."

Gabriella's lips formed a slight smile as she departed herself "Thanks. See you guys later."

As she walked away, she heard Sharpay shout behind her "And we'll know if you left! Me and Taylor's cars are cornering yours and we'll see if it's gone!"

"Whatever!" was all Gabriella replied sullenly, the giant glass bowls of off-white Egg Nog directly in her line of vision.

She almost missed him as she shoved through the dance floor. After bumping into someone else and recovering from the blow, she recollected herself and just as she headed for a small clearing in the chaos, her eyes locked with someone else's and held her there, all the way from the edge of the crowd. She froze, staring as brown met with blue for the first time in a year, the last time the two had seen each other at one of Chad's parties.

She was so focused on his eyes, she almost didn't even notice him walking toward her, still holding her gaze in a tight strangle hold. Her knees almost buckled underneath her and her heart missed several beats as his perfect face rearranged into a friendly smile. It wasn't long before his smooth voice called over the music "Hey, Gabriella."

Gabriella just stared at him a little bit longer. She knew very well that she was acting like a fifth grader who was speaking, or at least attempting to, to her crush and failing miserably. It was embarrassing. And when Gabriella Montez got embarrassed or ridiculed in any way, she reacted the same way every time. Furious, trying to turn the table onto her opponent. But here she was, not seeming to find a speck of anger within her as she gazed into his liquid diamond eyes. She was miserably putty in his hands and he didn't even know it.

She finally blinked free of her trance and unwillingly looked away from his gaze "H-hi Troy..." She felt the shivers race up and down her spine as his name rolled off her tongue smoothly. She couldn't help it. She had to sneak another look into his mesmerizing eyes.

Troy seemed to hesitate before he spoke again "I'm...surprised to see you here."

Gabriella automatically shrugged, trying her hardest to stop biting her lip like a child. "Yeah, me too. I was dragged here against my will."

The two shared a quick laugh before Gabriella sheepishly asked "S-so how've you been?"

Troy just shrugged "I've been alright. I kinda calmed down after graduation, which pretty much shocked my mom. My dad saw it earlier."

"Oh yeah?"

Troy nodded politely before answering "I finally grew into some maturity and saw how stupid I've been. I barely passed and didn't get into college until I was caught playing one-on-one with Chad in his backyard by some sponsor. I got a scholarship and here I am, one year out of college."

Gabriella smiled, even more mesmerized by the appreciation that had leaked into his face. "That's great, Troy."

Troy blushed. "Thanks. So enough about me. What have you been up to?"

Gabriella's eyes suddenly became too heavy for his face as they dropped to the floor, studying the carpet. "I've been good."

Troy had that feeling that you get when you predict that that's all you're going to get from someone. He felt the conversation dying already as he closed "Good, good. Well I gotta go get back to Chad. You know how impatient he gets and he thinks I was just gonna go get some drinks."

Gabriella, still not fully recovered from her anti-Christmas shame, dismissed herself "Yeah, Sharpay's the same way. I was just in the bathroom. Guess I'll have to use the period excuse too."

Troy grimaced, but still played it off smoothly. "You do that. Let me know how it goes."

Gabriella giggled and joked back "As long as you don't get killed by Chad first. Here he comes."

Troy spun around and quickly muttered a quick "Crap..." under his breath before he waved at Gabriella and disappeared into the crowd. She sighed. Before allowing herself to get caught up in his male model-like glory, continued on her previous journey to the end of the room.

Gabriella smirked at the tiny slip of paper propped up right beside the one to her left in Taylor's obvious, elegant handwriting: _Alcoholic_.

"Not a problem..." she mumbled to herself as she took the plastic ladle and got a heaping amount, dropping it into her cup and bringing it up to her lips.

--

Troy sighed, sitting back against the plush couch and closing his eyes, trying to drown out the music pounding into his eardrums and almost pushing for a headache. He could've been taking his selection of a beautiful, single lady from the crowd to dance and flirt with, but didn't exactly feel up to the easy task. He didn't know what had possessed him to sit down and think about her again, but it had to have been something strong.

He just didn't understand it. He closed his eyes and smiled softly as he pictured the last time he had seen her pro-Christmas. She was usually bouncing off the walls at Christmas time in high school, her red and green sweaters fitting perfectly to her flawless body. Her eyes sparkled every time someone mentioned the holiday or sang a carol, which she would join. The cute bows in her hair holding back her bangs to frame her perfect face, her sleek black hair falling down her back in gentle, natural waves. Her wide, jaw-dropping smile that would make him freeze in place and just stare until she walked away. Her straight rows of pearly white teeth that shone in the perfect lighting that seemed to follow her wherever she went. She was so beautiful, so perfectly sculpted into the most flawless creature he ever laid eyes on. He just smiled wider.

"Hey! None of that! What would Jesus think?!" Troy's eyes snapped open as he found himself staring into Chad's annoyed and slightly humored eyes with a cup of Egg Nog in his hand. It was until he caught his breath that he realized that he had lost control of it and he was sure that Chad could hear his heart quickening wildly in his chest.

"Sorry..." Troy mumbled, getting to his feet in a flustered manner and wiped his clammy palms on his jeans. His cheeks burned crimson and he tried to hide it by keeping his gaze on the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Dude, for the last freakin' time!" Chad sternly, but impatiently ordered "Get her out of your head before you go nuts! I'm sure it's not healthy!"

Troy sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy, sandy-brown hair. Chad was, unusually, 100 percent correct. This _was_ unhealthy. Obsessing over a woman who viewed Christmas as though it were the devil himself was like drowning ice cream with barbeque sauce. It wasn't right and certainly something to cringe at. But the thought of Gabriella's attitude was like his personal brand of heroine. A perfect mystery, calling out his name and beckoning him to come and solve it.

He fixed his crystal-like baby blue eyes on Chad and muttered "It's never gonna go away, is it?"

Chad shrugged "Why are you asking me? It's your own decision weather you act like a normal human being or not. I can't make this choice for you."

"A little help would be nice..."

Chad bit back the annoyed groan and looked around the room almost desperately. His eyes then widened as he stared at something – or someone – on the dance floor. He squinted, trying to see if his eyes were deceiving him or playing some practical joke on his brain. After he soon realized that that was not the case, he exhaled through his mouth, puffing up his cheeks, and looked to Troy, saying "There's your help. Go stop her."

"Huh?"

Chad just silently held up his hand that held his cup and used his index finger to point to a spot in the crowd. Troy followed.

It wasn't hard to spot out Chad's source of surprise. There she was, her black curls messy with the constant tossing of it, her beautiful lids closed and her perfect, glossy lips curved upward ever so slightly in a gentle grin. Her knees were bent and she held a cup of Egg Nog in her hand as she moved sleekly, but a little unsteadily, against a hunky classmate. Troy could just faintly remember his name to be Brent.

He was certain that she was drunk.

"Oh good Lord..." Troy shook his head slowly, silently excusing himself from Chad. He quickly pushed through the hoard of dancing adults and walked up to Gabriella and Brent. Gabriella's eyes were shut and Brent's never left her body. Troy bet he didn't even know who she was.

He cleared his throat louder than necessary and watched impatiently as Brent's head reluctantly snapped up and Gabriella's eyes fluttered open. Troy sighed. Her eyes were glazed over. She was most definitely drunk.

"Troy!" Gabriella shrieked, smiling enthusiastically. Even the one short word came out foggy.

Troy rolled his eyes knowing that she wouldn't be able to see him and, turning to Brent, harshly asked "Can I borrow her for a second?" Without even waiting for an answer, he grabbed Gabriella's wrist and dragged her through the pack of people, feeling her bump and crash into the people she probably didn't even notice.

When they finally reached the empty corner of the room, Troy helped Gabriella stagger into a halfway decent standing position. She leaned against the wall for full support, the cup of Egg Nog still firmly clasped in her hand.

"H-how ya doin', buddy?" she slurred, lifting the cup to her mouth. It was then grabbed from her in an instant, sitting on the floor beside Troy. He narrowed his eyes and demanded "Gabriella, what the hell are you doing?"

"I could ask you the s-same question..." she stammered over her words as her eyes drained of the drunken enthusiasm. She threw her finger in his face, which was immediately slapped away. "I'm serious, Gabby! Brent?! You know that he's just a perverted idiot who apparently never grew out of it!"

Gabriella turned her head and eyed Brent, who had already moved on from the drunken brunette and was now dancing with a pretty red-head. She scowled, but didn't let Troy see it. She faced him again, a crooked grin faking its way onto her breathtaking face. "He's a good dancer," she muttered. "Wonder if I can get his number..."

"This isn't funny!" Troy loudly told her, getting frustrated with her stubbornness.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, making her dizzy and stumbling back into the wall again. "I never said it was," she looked away from him then, crossing her arms over her chest, a little flustered. Troy began to wonder where her secret thoughts had taken her. Somewhere sober, he hoped.

"You were the one who treated it as a joke." He heard her mumble. "Huh?"

Gabriella smiled without humor, shaking her head as if she were completely fed up with something. "There you go again! There's my whole point! You're too blind to see right through my words!"

Troy just stood there, too stunned to speak. Was she crazy or was she so drunk that she was delusional? Maybe both, he concluded. "Gabriella-"

"What is it about Brent that pisses you off, Troy, huh? Why do you even care?! At least _he_ gives half a crap!"

Troy could do nothing but stand there and blink, trying to comprehend every slurred word that was just thrown at him. Had she completely lost it? Had she become so lonely in that ordinary, cheerless house that she had become mad with loneliness?

"Gabriella..." he repeated cautiously, pausing to see if she would interrupt him. When she remained silent, he continued with more force. "If I didn't care I couldn't be here talking to you. I'm just worried about you, that's all. I don't want you to get hurt."

Gabriella scoffed, her eyes suddenly layering with tears. "A little late for that, isn't it?"

Troy went rigid. "Did he hurt you already?"

Gabriella shook her head, her lower lip trembling slightly and her eyes pushing the heavy moisture out of them. "Not as much as someone else did." She flashed him a glare that hoped for him to feel guilty.

It worked. Troy almost ignored the fact that their conversation had sobered her up some and tried to say "Gab-"

She cut him off by wiping the tears off of her face and turning away to rush away from him. Troy just watched her walk off at first, too stunned to move again. After the wave of confusion rolled off of him a moment later, he quickly ran in the direction that she had gone in and, roughly shoving past the annoying crowd, looked around frantically. She was no where in sight.

Even though he was completely and utterly clueless as to what she was talking about when she mentioned getting hurt, he knew that it had something to do with him. That, or she was simply crying out of intoxication. He so desperately wanted to believe that, to believe that it was just the booze talking, but the little tiny voice in the back of his brain suddenly teamed up with the nerves in the pit of his stomach. He felt the internal organs within his torso churning and churning until a memory jumped and crash-landed into his head.

In 8th grade, he had broken his mother's favorite, wildly expensive mirror and lied about it later. The little voice in his head stirred the contents in his stomach until the guilt became too much. He broke off mid-sentence, rushed to the bathroom, and-

The flashback stopped there as Troy's lips clamped shut, pressing into a thin line. He remembered the scene exactly as the déjà vu crept up on him quickly. _Uh oh..._

He felt a tap on his shoulder and a worried voice cautiously asking "Dude, are you okay? You don't look so good."

Troy pressed his fist firmly against him mouth and, ignoring Chad's question, took off around the corner to the small bathroom in the hallway. He didn't have time to stop and thank God that it was vacant before everything that he had eaten that day emptied out of his stomach and fell into the toilet. His parents had held a Christmas dinner at their house earlier that day and Troy's mom loved to cook everything she could get her hands on, forcing him to taste everything. By the time he was done tasting everything he had had enough food that could have equaled a full-course meal. He instantly regretted ever stepping his mother's kitchen in the first place.

When he was half-way done throwing up, he felt something hard, but comforting, pounding onto his back and helping him hack up everything in his stomach. It helped. He was done in half the time it would have taken him normally. He just sat there on his knees for a minute, breathing deeply through his mouth, afraid that if he inhaled through his nose, the unbearable odor would trigger him again. And he didn't have anything left to bring back up.

Troy turned to Chad and whispered "Thanks."

Chad nodded once and then, disappointed, accused "I send you to talk to Gabriella to save you from insanity and you end up getting drunk with her. God, it's like I don't know you at all anymore."

Troy sighed, raising his hand to flush the toilet. "Chad, I'm not drunk. I barely ever drink, you know that."

"Then what's with this?" He handed his best friend a wet paper towel to wipe his face with. Troy gratefully accepted it and ran it across his face, clearing away the sweat and extra vomit that didn't make it into the place it was meant for. He tossed it into the trash can behind him and started "Remember back when we were 14? I told you that I broke my mom's mirror?"

Chad's forehead creased as if he were about to say that he didn't remember, but then it smoothed back as he replied with a chuckle "Oh yeah, I remember that. You lied and then puked because you felt so guilt-" He paused as Troy's point sunk in. "Oh. What happened with her?"

Troy sighed and switched his position; he set his back against the wall and threw his head back against it. He decided to answer as honestly as he could.

He shrugged "I honestly have no idea. I told her that I didn't want her to get hurt and she just exploded and said that she already was. She made it seem like I hurt her in some way, but I have no idea what she's talking about."

Chad stayed silent for a few seconds after that given information and finally spoke "Do you think that has anything to do with why she hates Christmas?"

"Probably." Troy did the best he could to hide the surprise in his voice. He never thought of it that way. It would certainly explain her sudden bitter attitude toward the cheery holiday.

"Huh," Chad thought aloud "Wonder if Taylor and Shar know anything."

Troy scoffed "Probably not. She won't say anything to anybody. And you know Taylor. If she got anything, she would've told you by now."

Chad laughed shortly. "Yeah, she would've pretty much forced me to try and help her."

Troy laughed along with him. "Yup, that's Taylor for you."

Chad shook his head in annoyance, but Troy could plainly see the love and admiration that flashed in Chad's eyes for his wife. "Exactly why I fell in love with her. Always trying to help people and solve mysteries. She was a mystery herself when I first met her."

Troy recalled "I remember you always complaining that she was confusing you."

"Just the slightest little thing would get her interested, and, for some messed up reason, so would I."

Troy let his gaze fall to the floor in jealousy. Chad and Taylor were total opposites, just like Taylor and Sharpay's friendship. Chad was messy, Taylor was organized to a T. School wasn't always Chad's main priority, and if Taylor got at least three questions wrong on a test, she would go ballistic. Chad used to only be friends with teens of his own jock clique in school, Taylor could easily become friends with anyone (hence Sharpay, the drama queen.)

"You're lucky, man," Troy finally muttered, looking up only a small fraction at his friend. "Taylor's your miracle and I've got nobody."

Chad frowned. "You know it's gonna stay that way if you keep that attitude."

Troy complained "No, I'm serious. I've dated most of the girls that went to our school and even some that went to West High. I never felt anything for any of them."

"There are other balls on the court, dummy," Chad walked over to sit beside him as he used his analogy for the usual 'fish in the sea' term. "Besides, barely any of those girls felt anything for you either."

"Not helping."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Just listen to me. How many of those girls pressured you to sleep with them?"

"Almost all of them."

"How many said that they loved you?"

"One or two."

"How many do you think meant it?"

Troy sighed, knowing what he was getting at. "None."

"See?" Chad shrugged "There's your difference between love and lust. All those girls were just in lust with you. And you didn't even give those other ones you didn't date a chance. Who didn't you date at East High?"

Troy didn't have to think about that one for long before answering "Martha, Taylor, Kelsi, Sharpay, and Gabriella. Why?"

"Why didn't you give them a chance?" He quickly added "Well, besides Taylor."

Troy shrugged dully as the words rolled off his tongue. "Martha only liked me as a friend, Kelsi was way too shy, Sharpay was too big a drama queen, and..." He stopped, his voice abruptly cutting off.

"Gabriella?" Chad asked, raising an eyebrow.

Troy's next words came in a faint whisper. "I was about to ask her out near the end of the year."

"Why didn't you?"

Troy's voice raised a tad bit, a hint of anger and annoyance slipping in. "I was stopped."

Chad just nodded twice, not looking like he was even listening. His eyes were thoughtful and distant, as if he were remembering something that could be incredibly useful to the conversation.

"Why are you even asking me this?" Troy suddenly wondered. "You honestly think that I could fall in love with any of those girls?"

Chad ignored his question and came back to the conversation. "Didn't Lindsay Pitch ask you out again near the end of senior year?"

Troy groaned and clutched his stomach. "Chad, I just got done throwing up. Don't make me heave again."

"Just answer the question." Chad persisted, still thinking.

He couldn't say the word, not wanting to bring back the horrific memory. He just nodded.

"And didn't she kiss you before you even said anything?"

Troy's throat muscles started to tighten and his stomach churned again, only the voice in his head had shut up for now. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, taking deep breaths to try and steady the unsteady walls. "Chad, I'm warning you..."

"I'm almost done figuring this out. Just answer me." Chad promised.

Troy swallowed the disgusting liquid lump in his throat and whispered "Yeah."

"Was that when you went to go ask Gabriella out?"

Troy just nodded, the disgust he felt for the preppy, arrogant blonde flipping into anger. Lindsay Pitch was known as the school's Head Bitch, captain of the cheerleading squad. She believed the rumor that the head cheerleader and the captain of the basketball team should date. She had asked Troy out in the beginning of senior year and he had accepted the horrid offer out of sympathy. He knew that she didn't have many friends and craved attention, so he decided to stick it out for as long as he could stand but he eventually couldn't take it anymore. She had been bitching and pushing him for sex for too long on his point, so he had dumped her after two and a half weeks. She didn't take it well at all. She froze, sobbed, slapped him, and then stormed off to start the fake rumor that she was going to start about him the next day. Of course no one believed that Troy posted pictures of him in thongs on the internet, but he pretended to be hurt for her benefit. After she walked out of sight, he and his friends would just laugh at her stupidity.

"Yeah. I told her to meet me at my locker during free period, but Blondie stopped me before I could turn the corner." His hands clenched into fists at the memory.

"The day before Christmas break?"

"Yeah, what does the date have to do with anything?"

Chad nodded, grinning in satisfaction. "That was the day she left school early in tears. We passed her house on the way back to mine and she had taken down all of her decorations. Remember? She had all the lights and ornaments in her trash can."

Troy saw the depressing scene in his head and cringed as his heart squeezed in dissatisfaction. He tried not to think about it that much over the last 5 years, but now that Chad was technically forcing him to remember the time he dissected it into parts. When Lindsay had shoved him against the lockers to rape him of kisses, he could have sworn he heard footsteps approach them, stop for a moment for the person to gasp softly, and then run away. They were faint, which was probably why he couldn't be sure if he had imagined it or if he had really heard them. He was instantly curious as he took a closer look at his assumption. Gabriella wore flats that day while most of the girls wore thick pumps or heeled boots. There weren't many people in the hallway during free period and most of them were guys, who thumped the tiled floors with their heavy footsteps. Troy had sneaked up on Gabriella the previous period and surprised her with a poke in the side, having her gasp in surprise. He replayed the audio in his head. Feminine footsteps, familiar gasp...

Everything matched up.

His mouth dropped.

"You think?" he turned his head to face Chad, his face flushed with realization.

Chad shrugged in response, a comforting, sympathetic look in his eyes. "It makes sense."

Troy suddenly forgot how to breathe. Gabriella had seen him and Lindsay together right before he had asked her out. She had to have known that he was going to ask her; he had taken his flirting to the extreme when he had invited her to his locker, touching her hair, staring into her eyes, smiling nonstop no matter what was said, and kissing her hand when he walked off. She knew. And now she must've thought that it was all a joke.

"Me..." His voice was barely audible.

"What about you?"

Troy felt the familiar sting in his eyes from tears. "I'm the reason she hates Christmas so much. She got played during a time that she always believed was for miracles and now she hates it! I stole her spirit away from her Chad! I killed Christmas for her!"

Chad gripped Troy's shoulders and demanded "Whoa, whoa Troy, calm down! You don't know that."

"Yes I do!" Troy slapped his hands away and abruptly got to his feet. "She left 5 minutes after it happened! That can't just be a coincidence!"

Chad quickly fought back "But why would she care so much? She let it hit her like it was the worst thing that could ever happen to her."

They both froze.

"Unless..." Chad whispered, starting to see Troy's point.

Troy ignored him, eyes wide and face pale as a sheet. "Oh God, I gotta find her."

He was out the door before Chad could stop him.

--

"Gabriella!" Troy shouted again, trying to be heard over the booming, aggravating music. She had to have been around here somewhere. How far could she have gotten when she was drunk?

He couldn't believe that this was happening. How stupid could he get? It was like taking a test and having all the answers right there in front of you. He was the student, the mystery was the test, and Gabriella was the A+ that he was trying to receive. But he was just so unobservant that he didn't fit all of the obvious clues together. He felt like he had just been slapped in the face or, even worse, punched in the stomach. He desperately tried to keep the guilt down in his stomach this time. With two large gulps, he succeeded. That should hold him off for another few minutes.

As he raced from room to room in the huge house to try and find her, he began to wonder why he was doing so in the first place. Beside the obvious reason that he needed to apologize for making her cry and being so stupid, accusing _her_ of being crazy, it seemed totally pointless. What did he care if she was hurt because of an accident? She was the one who took it the wrong way anyway. Like Troy Bolton, captain of the East High Wildcat basketball team would be caught being forced to kiss someone he completely despised. Big deal. So he kissed someone right in front of the girl who loved him.

_The girl who loved him..._

He groaned, leaning back against the wall and sliding to his butt in defeat. There he went being stupid again. This _was_ in fact a big deal. Of course he cared about Gabriella, and he especially cared if she got hurt by anyone, primarily by him. It was all his fault in the first place. He had led Lindsay on, made her think that he even had a speck of interest for her in him. He was always told that he was an excellent actor. Maybe he was _too_ good, at least when it came to Lindsay, the blonde witch who fed off of other people's pain. Troy felt himself get angry all over again at the sound of her name, even in his head.

"Hey," a high, tired voice came from beside Troy. He looked up and back down again once he saw who it was.

"What are you doing out here? The party's in there." The girl said once Troy didn't say anything.

"I could say the same thing for you, Sharpay." Troy finally looked up at her, her blonde curls messy from constant tossing of it, her face flushed with frustration, and her brown eyes looked heavy from exhaustion.

Sharpay just rolled her eyes and retorted "I asked first."

Troy hung his head again, looking for the correct words that would get him in the least amount of trouble by the former Ice Queen. "Don't know why you did. You probably already know what happened."

"Between you and Gabby?"

Troy nodded shamefully, his head still focusing on the ground.

Sharpay sighed, running a hand through her messy locks. "Because this isn't my fight. We're not in high school anymore, Troy. We're college graduates. I think it's time to stop all the petty fights, don't you?"

Troy didn't reply right away, staring at the cream-colored wall in front of him for a second. "You know just as well as I do that this isn't petty, Shar."

"True." She breathed.

The words finally came to him in a huge wave so fast that Sharpay had to concentrate to catch all of it. "I just feel so stupid, you know? So guilty. I mean, if I had just ignored Lindsay and fought her off before Gabriella got there, we wouldn't be in this crap right now. We would probably still be dating...oh."

"Oh what?"

Troy shook his head disappointingly. "I jumped to conclusions, sorry. We never would've dated if she never said yes."

Sharpay's face pulled a look of shock across her pretty, tired face. "What's that supposed to mean? You don't think she would've said yes?"

"Why would she?" Troy confusingly replied.

"Wow Troy, you really are blind..."

"I'm not following you."

Sharpay exhaled, frustrated, through her mouth and explained "You really don't know Gabriella at all. You saw how shy and timid she was when she talked to you the first time tonight, right?"

"Uhh...yeah." he answered, still not catching on.

"You embarrassed her."

"How?"

Sharpay closed her eyes and took another deep breath, trying to control her anger. "Do you remember when half the girls in first grade came up to you and tried to talk to you?"

"Yeah."

Sharpay pressed on "Well, that's kinda like what it's like for Gabby when she's around you."

Troy nodded once slowly, finally understanding. "She loves me, doesn't she?"

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" Sharpay exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air and sarcastically beaming. "Took you long enough..."

Troy smiled and defended himself "Hey, don't start. You know that I'm a little slow when I hang around Chad for too long."

Sharpay just rolled her eyes and continued "So what are you gonna do now?"

Troy's smile quickly faded as he mumbled "I have absolutely no idea. I don't know what to say to her without upsetting her even more."

The blonde thought for a little before offering "Would it help if I told you that she and Taylor are outside? That's why I look so crappy; the girl's hard to calm down."

Troy gave her one more once-over, confirming his past speculation. "Thanks, Shar."

"No problem." She smiled brightly.

Troy then got to his feet and held his hand out for her, saying "Can I ask one more thing?"

"Shoot."

"What do you think my chances are of getting her to forgive me for being a total ass?"

Sharpay once again shrugged, answering sadly "That's up to her. Just be careful around her because she's really sensitive when it comes to the ones she loves."

Troy just looked at the ground.

He felt a finger pull his chin up to lock eyes with Sharpay again. "Hey, don't worry. Other than being sensitive, she also understands if you say the right thing. And knowing you, that shouldn't be a problem, okay?"

Troy nodded with a small smile "Okay."

Sharpay grinned once more before walking in the direction of the bathroom that Troy had just come out of. He called to her "Use the bathroom upstairs!"

She turned and warily asked "Why?"

"Let's just say that guilt and the food in my stomach don't go well together."

She grimaced and ran to the steps. "You still puke when you feel guilty?"

"Got it from my mom."

"You're hopeless." Troy chuckled as she skipped up the stairs to fix herself up before heading back down to the party.

Troy took a deep breath and turned in the direction of the front door, looking out the window. Sure enough, there were two figures sitting on the front step, one having its arm around the other who held their head in their hands. He sighed dejectedly. This was going to take a _lot_ of work.

Then he heard it. "TROY!!!"

The high-pitched, nasally, familiar voice that made him freeze in place with his hand on the doorknob. _You're kidding me..._

Without breathing, Troy turned on his heel with his eyes tightly shut, afraid to open them. When he finally did, the room spun for a second before refocusing on one of the most fake, hideous faces he had ever seen in his life. Her too-high cheekbones, Her tight, fat lips coated in red lipstick, her ugly brown eyes hid by fake eyelashes, eyeliner, and neon eyeshaddow. She had so much blush on, she looked like she had been crying her eyes out for a month. The curly, tight curls upon her head that didn't completely cover her whole, receding hairline immediately gave away that it was a wig. Her skinny body underneath her big head had shrunk, if possible, since high school. She had the most absurd outfit clothing her anorexic-looking body. She was mostly skin and bones other than her chest, which had obvious implants within them. Troy felt his knees buckle beneath his body. Not now. Not again. Not when he was so close...

"Lindsay." He whispered.

--

Gabriella sat on the steps, the tears still cascading down her face in a never ending waterfall. She felt bad for Taylor. She had to sit here and take this drunken crap while she was pregnant instead of being inside her warm house, enjoying her party. She had enough problems to deal with.

But she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she realized that the sooner she got this out, the sooner it would be over. So she continued with her little rant "It's just not fair Taylor! Why would he choose that little whore over me?! Was it all just a joke or something?! I mean seriously, you could hear them moaning a mile away!"

Taylor sighed and continued to stroke her friend's back. "I don't know Gabby, maybe she came onto him. From what I've seen, Troy's too nice a guy to cheat on someone like that."

Gabriella shook her head "Yeah right. Like that weak idiot could shove him into the lockers like she did. You should've seen it Tay! He wasn't even fighting her off!"

"Ever think it may have just been shock?"

"Doubt it."

Taylor shrugged "But it could've been. Just think about it. Troy was ecstatic when he told you to meet him at his locker. Me and Shar could see the way he acted with you and let me tell you right now, he never acted that way with anyone else, even the nice girls."

"He was probably getting bored and just decided to trick me."

"You're not making this easy, Gabby."

Gabriella snapped back "Well I'm sorry if my heart's broken and I've got no one else to turn to! I knew I shouldn't have let you two drag me here. It only made things worse. I was just find before stepping foot into this party!"

Taylor knew that she didn't really mean her harsh words. She was still a little drunk from all the Egg Nog that she had consumed into her system. And even if she wasn't intoxicated, she still had a pretty bad temper that she had picked up over the last five years. It became routine.

She sighed "I know that I'm gonna regret saying this, but maybe if you would just talk to him-"

"I tried that one twice. He's clueless."

"Well then just walk up to him and say 'Troy Bolton, I love you more than I love Christmas'."

"I love everything more than Christmas, Taylor, even my own pee."

Taylor grimaced at that last comment, but quickly shook it off and continued "Well then just say 'I love you'. That always seems to work."

Gabriella shot back without the effort of thinking "He won't take me seriously."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I damn well do. I've given him so many hints in high school and I even tried flirting with him earlier. Just face it. He's-"

A high pitched shriek cut her off in the middle of her sentence. Her and Taylor jumped and looked back, freezing.

"Did you just hear that?" Taylor asked, cocking her head a little to the side.

Gabriella nodded, forgetting her little rant for a second. "Who was it?"

"I don't know. Let's go find out."

They got up from their spot on the cold stone step and walked over to the front door, opening it and stopping dead in their tracks when they saw the cause for the noise.

"You're kidding me..." Gabriella muttered.

--

_God? Why do you hate me? _Troy thought to himself as he tried not to puke again right then and there in front of Lindsay. It took everything he had, but he kept whatever he had left in his stomach down.

"Oh my God!" her voice had gotten even more nasally since the last time he heard her "I can't believe this! How ironic is it that we just ran into each other like this?"

Troy bit his tongue to keep back the string of curses that he was dying to toss at her. "I can't believe it either..." he decided to safely mutter.

Lindsay gave him a long once-over and complimented "Wow, you've grown since the last time I've seen you. Do you work out?"

_Yes, some of us actually eat and don't purge it back up, you anorexic imbecile_. "Yeah, I try to everyday." He kept his voice quiet to restrain from screaming at her.

"Well it shows," The blonde didn't seem to notice his rebellion against her as she continued to stare at his body.

He didn't even bother to say thank you. Screw being polite anymore, he thought to himself. Time to get some answers. "So," He cleared his throat free of the continuous insults begging to be emitted. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were a friend of Chad's." _Of course you're not, no dogs allowed. All except for Brent, which still remains a mystery to me as to how he got in here..._

Lindsay tried to scowl, her plastic face barely wrinkling at all. In a disgusted tone, she replied "Oh, I'm not. I actually looked him up in the phonebook and hoped that I would run into some old friends. He doesn't know I'm here, so keep quiet please."

_Shut up; you know you don't have any friends, you moron_. "Who did you hope you would run into?"

She was still completely oblivious to his resentment. "Tiffany, Brent, you..."

"Me?"

She would've blushed if it weren't for all the layers of fake skin on her face. "Yeah, I actually wanted to talk to you Troy."

_That makes one of us... _"About what?"

She sighed dramatically, annoyingly, and pressed a hand to her enlarged chest. "I wanna give us another try."

"Excuse me?"

Lindsay repeated "I want another go at us. I mean, like, seriously Troy. We're meant for each other. When you broke up with me, you were just confused. And I'm okay with that. I'm giving you another chance." She directed his shocked attention at her hideous body. "I had this work done for you. I know I was a little too pudgy before, but I'm better now. Don't I look like a model?"

Before he had the chance to say "Hell no." he heard a gasp come from behind him. Troy spun around just in time to see Gabriella's leg run her around the corner.

"God, not again..." he groaned, preparing to follow her, when he felt a bony hand grab his arm. "Where are you going?"

Troy unleashed half of his anger in his voice on the unsuspecting blonde. "You interrupted me from something very important, okay?! I'm trying to fix something with Gabriella."

She made a face "Montez?"

Troy nodded like she were missing something very obvious.

Lindsay rolled her eyes and flipped her wig, placing her hands on her skinny hips. Troy winced at the thought of what it looked like without the clothing. "This is why I decided to give you another chance, hun. You were a little too pre-occupied with _her_, and I thought that you'd finally gotten over her by now."

"Well I'm not, so can you just butt out and leave it alone?!" Troy seethed.

Lindsay shook her head and chirped "Nope. Let's dance!"

"But-"

She was already dragging him out to the dance floor before he had the chance to protest. He noted that she was very good at cutting people off.

She pulled them into the center of the dance floor and then turned her back to him (he could plainly see her shoulder blades poking through the fabric of her thin blouse) She started to sway against him, unsteadily, in a wannabe sexy manner.

"Wow, you're a good dancer, Troy." She tried to flirt. Troy rolled his eyes as she sucked up to him because he obviously wasn't dancing.

"Lindsay, stop!" He pushed her away from him roughly and grimaced as he felt her spine come in contact with his palms. She staggered away and looked back at him, shocked. Finally.

"What's wrong, babe?"

Troy's cheeks flushed with anger and impatience as he snapped "First off, don't call me 'babe' unless you want me to throw up on you!"

She just stood there and blinked, finally letting his words into her air-filled brain. "Huh?"

Troy hardly even noticed the crowd that had gathered around the two as he continued to yell "Don't even pretend to not know what I'm talking about! You just can't take a hint, can you?! I broke up with you in high school for a friggin' reason! You were nothing more than a stupid slut who thought that she could get any guy she wanted just by sweet-talking them! You still are, you fake Barbie doll!"

"What did you just say to me?" Lindsay crossed her bony arms across her chest and stared at him with annoyance in her ugly, fake features.

Troy rolled his eyes again and laughed without humor. "This is exactly what I mean! You pretend like you're all big and tough when in reality you're nothing more than just a scared little girl who hides behind her plastic skin and pointless words that no one listens to! No one here cares about you Lindsay! Get it through your head on your way out the door!"

Lindsay's hard frown remained on her face, but Troy could see the tears plainly play in her eyes, threatening to betray her and fall. She blinked them back quickly. "You don't know what you're talking about Troy!" she fought back in her sickly nasal voice. "If no one likes me, then why did they respect me all through high school?" She smiled as though she'd won the argument.

Troy immediately shot back "Are you honestly blind enough to see that they were just afraid of you?!"

"Everyone hung out with me!"

"No, only three girls hung around you because you forced them to! They were just little reflections of you! I wouldn't be surprised if you paid them to hang out with you!"

"So? That's their fault! They didn't _have_ to do everything I said!" Her feeble voice was nothing compared to Troy's rage.

"That's the whole point, idiot! They knew what would happen if they ditched you! Everyone did! They knew that you just loved to ruin people's lives to the point of them living in a hell! That's probably why you kissed me that day! You knew that I was going to ask Gabriella out and you were jealous of that! You hated the fact that I was actually attracted to someone who looked and acted like a normal human being and not some cheap whore! So you did the only thing that your tiny brain could come up with. You held me up until you heard Gabriella coming and then attacked me!"

Lindsay's eyes dropped to the floor. Troy instantly knew that he was right.

He heard someone trying to push through the crowd to probably get a better view of the argument. Troy looked to his left and his glare softened into a nearly invisible smile when he saw the flick of black hair pushing her way through.

Unfortunately, so did Lindsay. Her dejected face wiped clean of all sadness and was replaced by anger and hatred. She turned to face Troy and smirked evilly.

"What-" he started, but was cut off by a too-thin hand grabbing his head from the back and pulling him toward Lindsay. He felt her hands easily weave their way into his hair and direct him to her face. It didn't take very long for him to realize that their lips had connected, pushing yet another gag in the back of his throat at the sickening taste of her lipstick.

The crowd gasped in disbelief. Hands flew to mouths and eyes widened at Lindsay's stupid, scandalous move. And worse yet, Troy was frozen with shock.

A gasp stood out from the rest to Troy's ears. He could almost hear the tears in the voice as well as the anger. He knew that voice anywhere.

Suddenly, a hand shoved him from the grinning brunette and his eyes snapped open, seeing another dark-haired woman in front of him. She was frozen, trembling with what Troy guessed was anger. Her fists were curled at her sides until they faded to an unhealthy white. Lindsay stood with her hands on her hips, her black beady eyes contorted into a hateful glare, as she started "How about that, Montez? I got him twice and you're still waiting for him to-"

She was suddenly cut off as a tight fist came in contact with her jaw, throwing her back to the floor. Lindsay screamed, cradling her sore and bruised chin with a weak hand. She rocked back and forth as she wailed and cried, the past tears finally escaping.

Troy turned to the woman. Gabriella's fists still didn't relax as she glowered down at Lindsay as though she were nothing more than a parasite. His jaw had long since dropped to the ground and his eyes didn't return to their normal size as he stared at Gabriella with shock and slight admiration in his look.

"Gab-" he tried, but she didn't listen. Gabriella turned to him for a fraction of a second before she stomped away, disappearing into the crowd.

Troy, stunned as he was, couldn't help but start to follow her. A cold hand grasped his ankle and he looked down to see Lindsay demand "Where do you think you're going?! Help me up!"

Troy swiftly shook her hand off of his ankle easily and barked "If people care about you so much, get one of them to help you. Leave me alone Lindsay!"

He didn't even wait to observe her reaction. He ran from the room while ignoring the onlookers' wavering face, not even feeling the awkwardness that had settled over everyone. He didn't care about them right now. All he could think about was if Gabriella was okay.

As he twisted the back doorknob open, someone grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face them. Troy, now aggravated with all the interruptions, just turned and locked his jaw, clenching his teeth together.

Chad stared at him with disappointment at first, but then his eyes softened as he barely even whispered "Go get her."

Troy nodded once in response and threw the door open, speeding out after the distressed woman.

--

Gabriella walked up the snow-capped hill in the Danforth's backyard, her hands shoved into her pockets and her large hood pulled over her head. The icy air nipped at the little exposed skin upon her body, but she hardly noticed. The heated rage deep within her easily fought it off. She wasn't exactly sure when she started crying, or why she was in the first place. Maybe it was out of anger; Lindsay kissing Troy right in front of her after he so thoroughly told her that he didn't want anything to do with her. Or, was it out of sadness, the way it usually was? The thought of Troy with anyone but her was as good as her hell on this hectic, unfair world she called Earth. She asked God repeatedly what she had done to deserve this kind of heartbreak. She never stole, cheated, or was purposefully cruel to anyone in her entire life before that day five years ago. What did she do to deserve crossing paths with Lindsay?

Lindsay. The name that made her blood boil every time it came in contact with her brain, verbally or mentally. How dare she? How dare she steal her one true love away from her out of jealousy? She could get any other horny idiot she wanted. Why Troy? Of course he was the most gorgeous boy in school, but why was she so set on him? All that energy, wasted on him. What did she see in Troy that wasn't in any other guy?

She came very close to slapping herself in the face as she asked herself that question. Of course he was worth _any_ amount of energy. There was no one else like Troy in the whole world. His kindness to most people, his thoughtfulness to his friends and family, his sincerity to everyone around him. He was one of those rare men who believed that chivalry was in fact still alive. Gabriella had heard stories from the many girls that he'd dated and apparently he was quite the gentlemen. Opening doors for them, pulling out their chairs, paying for everything, and showering his steady girls with occasional gifts. But, sadly, she never got the chance to experience any of it. Little Lindsay couldn't keep her hands to herself and stole her future away from her. She stole her personality, her spirit, and the love of her life.

She gasped as her chest tightened, followed by the muscles in her throat. She felt the familiar sting in her eyes and the fogging of her vision. The lump in her throat grew until it finally escaped her mouth in a loud sob, wracking her body in the trembles that she was so used to. She leaned against the nearest little tree and lay her head against the rough bark, giving up her self control to her wails. She covered her mouth with a gloved hand in an attempt to muffle the heartbreaking sound from her own ears, but it just made her sound even more pathetic. There was only one thing that could comfort her and he was inside the house, probably still yelling at Li..._her_. She refused to say her name. Why put herself through even more torture?

Once the crying thinned a long minute later, she pushed herself off of the tree and walked to the center of the hill, putting her hands back into her jacket pockets. As she gazed at the falling snow, she couldn't help but grin faintly as a tune moved its way into her mind. She absolutely detested Christmas for the obvious reasons, but there was one song that fully described what she had been through in the last five years, the one song that she ever sang to on the radio. The song that no radio station played enough of.

She took a deep breath and let her voice fill the empty space around her, singing her favorite part of the song.

"**Where are you Christmas?  
Do you remember  
The one you used to know?  
I'm not the same one  
See what the time's done  
Is that why you have let me go?"**

"That was beautiful, Gabriella..." an awed voice whispered behind her.

--

Troy ran out into the freezing weather after Gabriella, cursing himself the whole way. How could he not have seen this coming? Lindsay may have been the devil in human form, but she was good at one thing; ruining people's lives at the most unexpected times. She must have practiced over the years, Troy thought, if she got that good at her mood transitions. It used to take her a while back in school, but she did it in the matter of seconds now. _Bolton, how could you be so stupid?_

But he soon realized that he was blind at more than one thing tonight. _At least Brent gives half a crap!_ Gabriella's words seemed plainly obvious to him now and he mentally kicked himself for not seeing it sooner. Gabriella thought that Troy didn't care about her back when Lindsay kissed him. Brent didn't care, Troy thought, he just noticed her for her body. But even if him not caring was the case, he and Brent would be even, wouldn't they? Like Chad said, lust and love were two different things.

Another thing that was painfully obvious to him now was why he was so obsessed with the mystery of Gabriella's hate toward the Christmas season; why he was so guilty when he had pulled her from Brent earlier. Why he kept thinking about her and nothing else when he was daydreaming. Why he felt that sudden surge of relief and pleasure when he realized that Gabriella was in love with him.

Because he was in love with her as well.

Chad wouldn't shut up about Taylor's mood swings and had annoyed Troy to the point where he was about to go find someone else to talk to when he saw Gabriella's face from across the dance floor. His annoyance had melted away and his insides had turned to mush. Her face lit up a spark in him that burned into a fire as he walked closer and closer to her until he was close enough to see into her eyes. The fire raged into his voice when he tried to make normal conversation with her. It ended up coming out a little more passionate than he had intended. He now saw that he had absolutely no right to be confused before. He was so worried when he saw her with Brent, but he also couldn't help that special pang of jealously. He just wanted to stomp over there and turn Brent inside out. That must've been what it was like for Gabriella, only much stronger as it was held off for five years.

He skidded to a stop in the snow when he heard a heartwarming sound floating to his ears from somewhere on top of Chad's hill. He cocked his head in the direction of the beautiful voice when he saw someone standing there in a grey hoodie and faded jeans. He was too shocked to even smile.

Slowly, absentmindedly, he started in Gabriella's direction, letting her voice lure him into her space. It wasn't until he was behind her that he realized he'd spoken.

"That was beautiful, Gabriella..."

Gabriella shut her eyes tightly, despite the fact that she had wanted to scream at the top of her lungs at his sudden appearance. She laughed dryly, without humor. "Ironic, isn't it?"

"How?"

Gabriella finally turned to face his body, her head still focused on the ground. She wasn't ready to look at him just yet. "You don't remember this happening five years ago?" She looked up at him and immediately worked on hiding the tears.

Troy sighed "Gabriella, I'm sorry."

"A little creativity would be nice."

"No seriously, I am." He was almost begging now, his voice staying level, his eyes dripping with emotion and sorrow, all for her.

She closed her eyes for a second and then, turning her head, averted her look to the sky. "Please don't say that you're sorry for me. That's the last thing that I need right now." She whispered.

"But I am." Troy softly replied.

She allowed some of her impatience to leak into her voice. "For the past five years, everyone has been saying that they're sorry for me. I hate pity, Troy. And the worst part was that they didn't even know what they were saying sorry for. Nobody."

_Here's your chance_, he thought to himself. "What exactly should they be sorry for?"

Gabriella's head snapped to him in disbelief, her knees weakening under his intense, curious gaze, but she hardly noticed. She snapped "You honestly haven't figured it out?"

Troy didn't reply. He just kept calm, waiting for her to blurt it out in silence. He knew that she couldn't keep this bottled up forever and that she would eventually erupt.

Unfortunately, she decided the same thing. She waited for him to answer her rhetorical question with a thick gaze. Seriously, he couldn't be this unobservant, she thought to herself bitterly.

Troy gave up first. "Gabriella?"

She continued to look at the flat, white snow on the ground around her immersed feet. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying again.

"Gabriella," Troy tried again, holding himself back from lifting her chin to meet his eyes. "Why do you hate Christmas?"

"You, Troy." She finally whimpered, her voice cracking with tears and emotion. She finally looked up at him, the moisture in her eyes almost bubbling over. "I hate it because of you."

Troy kept his eyes on hers as she confessed the embarrassing, depressing fact. He knew that she expected him to jump back in surprise or something along that line, but considering the fact that he already knew, he could do nothing but face the situation head on.

"You already knew, didn't you?" Gabriella muttered, losing the battle against her tears as she saw his reaction.

Troy just nodded twice, not trusting his voice or the words on his mind enough to speak them aloud.

Gabriella giggled without having anything to laugh at, holding her covered head for a second and then shifting her hands to her face, hiding it from Troy's view much to his dislike. "God, I'm so stupid..."

Troy immediately whispered "No," He softly pulled her hands away from her face and muffled a sigh behind his lips when he saw the wetness that had now streamed down her cheeks. "No," he repeated again, taking her hand in his. She pulled away. "You're not stupid."

"Yes I am." Gabriella retorted, looking him in the eyes and not caring if her makeup was running through her tears. What was the use in caring? She was already breaking all the rules anyway by telling him this. The senseless was the only thing that made sense now. "I'm stupid because I actually thought that I had a chance-" She cut herself off there, biting her tongue to keep from saying anything else.

"Go on." He encouraged her quietly. His eyes, if possible, became more intense as the realization of the truth crawled closer and closer.

Gabriella shook her head furiously, still keeping her eyes on the ground and then closing them. In the next second, she felt him lift her chin up to meet his eyes, his ungloved hands sending shivers throughout her body as their skin made contact for the first time in five years. It felt glorious. It felt right.

She took a tiny step back.

"I actually thought that I had a chance with you, Troy," she told him, her voice working to push its way up her throat again. "I thought that you actually liked me and then I see you kiss _her_."

"You know I didn't mean it." He interrupted, stepping toward her. She turned away.

"You won't ever understand what was running through my mind that day. No one will. It was like being thrown off of a roller coaster. It was fun and exciting when you flirted with me, but then it happened so fast that I couldn't understand what was happening, and then I crash landed. It hurt Troy. Badly. It hurt to fall for you."

He stayed quiet for a minute to let this unknown information sink in. "Should I say I'm sorry for that?" There was no sarcasm or impatience in his voice, just pure wonder. Was it his fault that they had fallen for each other? Becoming so obsessed and not leaving it alone, only to realize the truth of his feelings?

She shook her head "No, it's my fault," She sniffed back new tears. "I knew that I shouldn't have taken an interest in you in the first place, with you being a player and everything, but I couldn't help but listen to everyone's stories about you taking them on dates and how you would be so nice to them unlike every other guy I knew. I'm just naturally attracted to those kinds of guys. I don't even know if it was my fault that I even took up an interest in you. My mom made me believe that fairytales were real."

Troy stepped closer to her cautiously, to see if she would move away again. She stayed put. He gently turned her to face him by her shoulder and lifted her chin again. He swept the hair from her face and wiped away the tears from her face, his eyes never leaving hers. "They could be."

"You don't mean that." She tried to pull away again, but he held her firmly in his grasp, not letting her move an inch.

Troy said "When I was seven years old, I wanted nothing more than to be a professional racecar driver. I just thought that it looked so amazing, those guys driving in their colorful cars, going at insane speeds and trying to knock each other out of the way. But my dad thought that I should take up basketball. I would watch games with him and help him coach his team sometimes. I liked basketball, but I loved NASCAR. I told my mom about my dream and all she said was 'Troy, you could spend your whole life chasing that dream, or you could let an even closer dream catch up to you.' I eventually grew out of my NASCAR stage and started playing basketball, like my dad said and realized that it was way better. It was like I was seven all over again, only my passions were stronger."

Gabriella was shaking now, the cold biting her skin and Troy's touch sending shockwaves through her body, making her heartbeat irregular and much, much louder. "What are you telling me Troy? That Lindsay was your dream but you're now choosing me instead?"

He shifted his head a little closer to hers. "You're half right."

"Which half?"

"You're a smart girl. I'm sure you can figure it out."

Gabriella closed her eyes and sighed in slight frustration. "I don't have time for riddles, Troy."

Troy chuckled, moving another lock of hair that had fallen onto her face. "Gabriella, I've been spending these past five years trying to solve the mystery of you and your hatred toward Christmas. That was my goal, my dream. But I was too focused on my own selfishness to see the answer right behind me. It was chasing me."

Gabriella couldn't speak. The cold had frozen her lips together and the sweet scent of Troy's breath made it impossible to think straight. She gulped and looked up into his ultramarine eyes, letting out all of her emotions; Confusion, hurt, admiration...love.

Troy continued on, stroking Gabriella's cheek softly. "That day was hard on me as well. It felt as if when you left, you took some of me with you. I didn't know if it was me going crazy or what, but I knew that you had something to do with it. And then when I saw that you had thrown away all of your Christmas decorations, my curiosity intensified. I couldn't figure it out: how could someone who loved Christmas so much start to hate it in a matter of minutes?"

He leaned in even closer until their foreheads were touching. Gabriella shivered. "And the question that kept running through my mind was 'Do I have something to do with this?' I didn't want to be the idiot who ruined the Christmas spirit for someone."

The words seemed to float easily from Gabriella's mouth. "And what did you come up with?"

Their noses brushed together. "Up until now, yes."

"And what do you have to say now?" Her words came out in a low gasp, as if him being so close was intoxicating her all over again.

"Can I show you?" His voice was barely audible, but she was so close that she could hear it past the pounding of her heart in her ears.

She didn't respond, although Troy knew what she would say if she had. He carefully moved his hand to the side of her neck and, slowly closing his eyes, leaned in until he could feel her warm breath against his skin, teasing the nerves in his body.

And then, their minds both in a whirl, he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips gently against hers.

Gabriella tried not to work out the tangled mess that was her dazed brain, wanting to savor every second of this perfect moment with him. His lips – she had never imagined this before – were like a pillow with a satin covering, though they should've been chapped from the weather. They were perfect, sweet, and hers. All hers. If only for the moment, it was enough.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, weaving her fingers into his hair to pull his face, if possible, closer to hers. She just needed to be close to him. Five years was enough to drive her insane; she wasn't about to let this get away without saying goodbye.

His hands encircled her waist as if wanting to draw her closer, crushing all the space in between them, keeping them from each other. This wasn't enough, he concluded. He wasn't close enough. He needed to get closer without scaring her off. The last thing he wanted was to drive her away.

She read his mind, or at least his body language. Her lips parted slightly and she felt his tongue flick across her teeth. She gently pulled his face from hers, staring into his glassy eyes intently. She could tell that he wasn't even close to satisfied.

However, he grinned. "What I have to say to that is that I love you too."

She smiled, feeling another tear dripping down her face. She let her head fall into his strong chest as she whispered "Thank you Troy."

Burying his face in her hair, he mumbled "For what?"

She brought her head back up to him and answered "For not giving up on me when most everyone else had, even my mother. You and the girls seem to be the only ones who care anymore."

He tucked another lock of her hair behind her ear. "So many people care about you, Gabby, you just don't realize it."

She nodded "I know. Someone made me see that again."

He smirked "Oh yeah? Who would that be?"

She leaned forward, pecking his lips playfully. "My Christmas Hero..."

* * *

**There you go! Like it? Hate it? I would love it if you guys would give me a present and review lol :)**

**MERRY CHIRSTMAS!!!**

**~Rachel :)**

**P.S: For those of you reading my story Haunting Memories, I'm working on the next chapter right now lol sorry about the long update period, but I was too preoccupied with finishing this on time. I swear it'll be up soon :)**


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